Firearm magazine



June 29, 1965 J. ARDOLINO 3,191,332

FIREARM MAGAZINE Filed May 29. 1963 INVEN TOR.

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United States Patent 3,191,332 FIREARM MAGAZINE Edward J. Ardolino, 6 Whiting Farms Road, Branford, Conn. Filed May 29, 1963, Ser. No. 284,205 Claims. (Cl. 42-50) This invention relates :to firearms and more particularly to magazines therefor which can be coupled together.

The modern repeating firearm of today has been developed to the point where the repetition of shots is very fast as for example, a single pull on the trigger will fire several shots very rapidly or in bursts of fire as the term is often used. This tremendous increase in fire power requires that a generous supply of ammunition rounds must be easily and quickly available.

It is common practice to confine a predetermined Suppl of ammunition rounds in a container or magazine attached to the firearm usually protruding from the bottom thereof when held in firing position just forward of the trigger guard, the rounds being advanced out of the magazine into the firearm receiver by a spring located inside of the maga- Zinc and reacting .against the closed end thereof. When empty the magazine is discarded and another inserted in its place.

One of the most common uses of this type of firearm is by the soldier who carries a supply of loaded magazines on his person as in a belt around his waist or a bandoleer supported from his shoulder. These magazines are enclosed in pockets so that they may be carried around by the soldier and require a certain amount of time to be extracted from their pockets. Due to this increased fire power the spent magazine must be removed often and an additional loaded magazine must be quickly inserted in the firearm.

When the soldier has reduced his magazine to a low point say two or three rounds and a hostile enemy is close at hand he faces a desperate situation. He must extract a fully loaded magazine from his bandoleer which may be on his back and hold it in his hand ready to insert in his firearm when the previous magazine is emptied or he must remove the almost empty magazine and insert the one he is holding in his hand.

It is therefore one of the objects of this invention to provide an extra loaded magazine easily and quickly available.

Another object is to provide a magazine which cannot be easily mislaid or lost.

Stillanother object is to provide means for attaching another spare magazine to the magazine already in the firearm.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a magazine which can be readily uncoupled from its attached complementary magazine.

Another object of this invention is to provide means for detachably attaching another magazine to its complementary magazine.

Still another object is to provide an attaching means which will not permit unintended separation of the magazines as for example due to recoil of the firearm.

Yet another object is to provide an attaching means which will require a combination of pressures applied in a plurality of directions to avoid unintentional separations as for example as a firearm might be dragged through a constricted space.

Since in most cases magazines are disposable and hence made by inexpensive stamping processes from sheet materials, the attaching means must likewise be stamped out of sheet material as far as possible.

And also another object of this invention is to provide a means for coupling a pair of magazines together which can be attached to already existing magazines in stock.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 shows a firearm having a magazine provided with a second magazine depending therefrom;

FIGURE 2 shows a pair of magazines coupled together;

FIGURE 3 is an outside view of the closed end of a magazine;

FIGURE 4 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 4-4- of FIGURE 3, and

FIGURE 5 shows a portion of the attaching means somewhat enlarged.

With reference to the drawing the invention is illustrated generally by the numeral 10 and the numeral 11, upper and lower magazines respectively. Upper magazine 10' is shown in FIGURE 1 connected to a firearm 12 at the lower side thereof forward of the trigger guard in the usual manner.

In the following description reference may be had to structures in magazine 10 or magazine 11 but since both magazines 10 and 11 are identical in structure, like parts of the respective structures are identical. The only distinction being that numeral 10 denotes the magazine connected to the firearm 12 and numeral 11 denotes the magazine coupled to magazine 10.

FIGURE 2 shows the usual construction of a box type magazine with an ammunition round reposing at the mouth of the magazine ready for entrance into the firearm.

This type of magazine 19 is usually made of sheet material preferably metal. It is provided with an end plate 13 preferably blanked out of sheet metal and secured to the side walls 27 of the magazine by tabs 19 also formed at the edges thereof and shoulders (not shown) located on the inside of the walls 27 to retain the plate 13 in engagement with the tabs 19.

End plate 13 (see FIGURE 5) is provided with two rivet holes 14 and a stud receiving aperture '15. Fixedly mounted on plate 13 and extending outwardly therefrom is a stud 16 provided with a head 23, a neck 17 and a tapering end 18 on thehead 23. The base 28 of the stud 16 between the neck 17 and the plate 13 is such that it fits snugly with a companion aperture 15 located in a similar plate 13 of the magazine 11.

A slide 21 is mounted on the inside surface of the plate 13 by means of rivets secured to the plate 1?: in the rivet holes 14. Elongated holes 22 permit the slide 21 to move longitudinally of the plate 13 within the limits of the elongated holes 22.

An elongated aperture 24 comprising an opening 24a and a larger opening 24b intersecting each other is formed in the side 21. The opening 24b permits the end of the stud 16 to pass therethru and the opening 24a corresponds to the cross section of the neck 17 so that when the slide is moved into engagement with the neck 17 the stud is locked fast by the slide 21 when moved to such position.

As most clearly shown in FIGURE 4 one end 29 of the slide 21 projects thru an opening 30 in the wall 27 of the magazine 10 and is turned upwardly to bear against the outside of the magazine wall 27 and being of resilient sheet material exerts a bias to maintain the slide 21 to the left, as is also shown in FIGURE 4, so that when the stud 16 is received in the aperture 15 the smaller opening 24a of the slide 21 engages the neck 17 to lock the stud in place.

When no stud 16 is received in aperture 15 the slide is positioned to the extreme left as viewed in FIGURE 4 so that the smaller opening 24a partially covers the aperture 15. However when the head-23 of the stud 16 is inserted into the aperture 15 the tapered end 18 thereof enters the partially open space of the smaller opening 24a of the slide 21 and forces the slide to the right until the stud I6 is fully entered at which time the slide 21 can again move to the left under the biasing of end 29 and the smaller opening 24a can then engage the neck 17.

When it is desired to release the stud 116 to uncouple the magazines It) and 11 inwardly directed pressure on the outside end 29 of the slide 21 will retract the smaller opening 24a and enable the head of the stud to pass outwardly thru the larger opening 241) in the slide and the aperture 15 of the bottom plate.

Manipulation of the magazines is as follows.

A loaded magazine 10 is removed from the bandoleer r cartridge belt worn by the soldier and-inserted in the proper opening in the firearm 12. A second loaded magazine 11 is then turned bottom up (FIGURE 2) and coupled against the bottom of the magazine in already connected to the firearm 12.

When the upper magazine is empty or nearly so it is withdrawn together with the attached lower magazine 11 attached thereto and the coupled pair turned end for end so that the full magazine 11 can now be inserted in the firearm so that firing may continue. The spent magazine can then be removed by squeezing the outside ends 29 together to unlock the studs and a fresh magazine inserted as previously described.

Or, if desired, loaded magazines may first be assembled in a pair before being connected to the firearm as just described.

Although I have described by invention with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. In a system of interchangeable magazines for a firearm a first magazine and a second magazine; means for coupling said magazines together comprising a first stud and a first aperture mounted on said first magazine; a complementary second stud and a complementary second aperture mounted on said second magazine; said first aperture receiving said second stud and said second aperture receiving said first stud respectively each in fitting relationship; each of said studs provided with a neck; each of said apertures provided with a locking member for engaging said necks when said studs are received in said apertures respectively to retain said studs therein; resilient means for biasing said locking members in locking engagement with said necks respectively whereby said magazines are retained against unintentional separation after being coupled together.

2. In a system of interchangeable magazines for supplying rounds of ammunition to a firearm, a first magazine and a second magazine; each said magazine having gen 1? erally rectangular sides and an open end for connecting to said firearm; means for coupling said magazines mounted on similar sides thereof comprising, an outwardly extending first stud and a first aperture and a complementary second aperture and a complementary outwardly extending second stud mounted on said similar sides respectively; each of said studs provided with a neck; each of said apertures provided with a locking member engaging said necks respectively when said studs are received in said apertures in fitting engagement to retain said studs in said apertures; said locking members provided with resilient means for biasing said locking members into locking engagement with said necks respectively whereby said magazines are retained against unintentional separation while coupled together.

3. In a system of interchangeable magazines for a firearm means for coupling one magazine to another comprising, a magazine having a plate closing one end of said magazine; an outwardly extending stud mounted on said plate and having a neck; an aperture mounted on said plate to receive a complementary stud in fitting relationship; a locking member slidably mounted on said plate having an elongated aperture with one end of said elongated aperture permitting a necked complementary stud to pass therethru and the opposite end of said aperture of smaller cross section closely fitting said neck when said member is moved into engagement with said neck and said complementary stud is received in said aperture; resilient means connected with said locking member to bias said member into locking engagement with said neck Whereby said complementary stud is retained in said aperture against unintentional separation therefrom when said complementary stud is received in said aperture. VI 4. In the device of claim 3 said locking member terminating externally at one end thereof in a biasing position engaging said magazine wall whereby internally directed pressure on said end will move said locking member into unlocking engagement with said neck.

5. In a system of interchangeable magazines for a firearm a plurality of magazines each having side walls and an end wall, companion coupling means mounted on respective complementary walls of said magazines for detachably attaching one magazine to the other whereby when a first magazine is in operating position on the firearm a second magazine may be attached or detached respectively without disturbing said first magazine.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,289,067 7/42 Owsley 425O BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner.

FRED C. MATTERN, IR., Examiner. 

1. IN A SYSTEM OF INTERCHANGEABLE MAGAZINES FOR A FIREARM A FIRST MAGAZINE AND A SECOND MAGAZINE; MEANS FOR COUPLING SAID MAGAZINES TOGETHER COMPRISING A FIRST STUD AND A FIRST APERATURE MOUNTED ON SAID FIRST MAGAZINE; A COMPLEMENTARY SECOND STUD AND A COMPLEMENTARY SECOND APERTURE MOUNTED ON SAID SECOND MAGAZINE; SAID FIRST APERTURE RECEIVING SAID SECOND STUD AND SAID SECOND APERTURE RECEIVING SAID FIRST STUD RESPECTIVELY EACH IN FITTING RELATIONSHIP; EACH OF SAID STUDS PROVIDED WITH A NECK; EACH OF SAID APERTURES PROVIDED WITH A LOCKING MEMBER FOR ENGAGING SAID NECKS WHEN SAID STUDS ARE RECEIVED IN SAID APERTURES RESPECTIVELY TO RETAIN SAID STUDS THEREIN; RESILIENT MEANS FOR BIASING SAID LOCKING MEMBERS IN LOCKING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID NECKS RESPECTIVELY WHEREBY SAID MAGAZINES ARE RETAINED AGAINST UNINTENTIONAL SEPARATION AFTER BEING COUPLED TOGETHER. 